To celebrate his 34th year at the helm of the popular quiz show Jeopardy, Alex Trebek did what any veteran game show host would do, and assured his loyal viewers that he had once gotten very high. Of course, this little tidbit was just part of a larger interview with The Daily Beast about his storied career and lingering aspirations, but somehow all those other anecdotes seem less important after you hear the 77-year-old mild-mannered host once wolfed down a batch of pot brownies. It has the potential to be the be-all-end-all dorky dad story about the wild days of the 1970s, but Trebek insists it was all just a big mix-up.
“It was by accident! I didn’t know what they were. I had just arrived in California and went to a friend’s house for dinner, and there were brownies. I love brownies— I’m a chocoholic —and I didn’t realize that they were hash brownies. And … whoa. That threw me for a loop,” said Trebek of his one-time flirtation with the hippie lifestyle that left him pretty much out of commission, and likely phrasing everything in the form of a question. “I took down about a half-dozen. The dinner party was on a Friday, and I was not able to leave that house until Sunday afternoon.”
Lucky for us, Trebek was eventually able to recover from his brief but brain-melting trip and went on to become on of the most recognizable icons in TV history. The remainder of the interview includes interesting little tidbits about the host’s life, including what he thinks he’d be doing if not hosting Jeopardy (“I’d like to be pope”) and what has been his favorite cameo on film or television (The Bucket List, if you can believe it). For those hoping hash brownies will somehow become apart of Trebek’s pre-tape ritual, resulting in a much more mellow and disorganized round of Double Jeopardy, don’t hold your breath. He doesn’t see any reason to change the tried and true formula anytime soon. “If it’s not broken, stay away!”